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II: Prophecy
II: Prophecy, alternatively known as For A Better Tomorrow II: Prophecy, is the second installment in ArchReaperN7's fanfiction franchise called For A Better Tomorrow. An alternate 'fan-revised' fiction piece based on the Mass Effect franchise, II: Prophecy is based during the events inbetween Mass Effect 1 and 2, and the events of Mass Effect 2, with some sections based seventy years after the events of Mass Effect 3. It was originally published on May 28, 2013, and reached completion on December 18 of the same year. The first ten chapters of the story focus on Shepard's crew and how they move on from his death. Afterwards however, the story returns to Shepard's perspective and remains so for much of the book. Plot Prologue The story starts approximately one month after the events of I: Enigma. Tali is working in engineering onboard the Normandy with Adams when they both detect a heat blimp on scanners. Shortly after, the ship comes under attack from an unknown vessel. Adams and Tali manage to escape engineering as the ship begins to falter under the enemy assault, managing to reach the Crew Deck. Shepard pleads with Tali to get into an escape pod just as Johnson is killed by a falling support beam. Having convinced her to get into an escape pod, Shepard rushes off to the cockpit to rescue Joker. Upon arriving, he discovers Pressly is dead, but manages to get Joker into an escape pod just before the enemy ship fires again, the resulting explosion propelling Shepard away from the ship and into the void. Shortly after, Shepard's oxygen tank becomes disconnected, and he suffocates as his body is pulled into Alchera's atmosphere. In their pods, the crew learns of Shepard's death from Joker, and Tali, overcome with grief, collapses. Chapter One: Catalogue In the present, Tali'Shepard is woken up in her home after having fallen asleep at her dinner table. She eventually gives into her geth assistant's, Legion, insistence for her to go to bed. As Legion carried her to bed, she thought back to seventy years ago, when Shepard was still alive. Upon reaching her bedroom, Legion puts her down, and Tali looks at her old suits in the wardrobe. As Tali finally goes to bed and Legion leaves, she has a dream of herself, Shepard and their children on a beach, wishing it could have been true. The next day, Thane and Reby drive towards Tali's house. Arriving at the house, they have to convince Legion they are not a couple before Tali arrives, who announces Wrex has also decided to visit. Wrex and Tali talk about politics, talking about whether or not the Dominion should devote all their resources to a straight up invasion of the Covenant and straight up end the war. Carter discusses with Reia about Tali's decision to move Shepard to her house for the interrogation, while Reia prepares a squad of heavy troopers for transfer of Shepard. Reia then announces her intention to accompany Shepard there, where she will keep an eye on Tali. A day later, Reia and her heavy troopers arrive at Tali's house with Shepard. Reia tells Tali to watch herself and that if she does, she will kill them both. Tali reassures her she will try nothing, and begins the interrogation once again in earnest. Chapter Two: Hero of the Citadel Back in the past, Tali and the rest of the Normandy crew attend Shepard's funeral on the Citadel at the Memorial of Heroes. Tali is disgusted at the Council's almost complete and utter whitewashing of Shepard's death, and accompanies the crew to Flux afterwards for drinks. They discuss how best to break the news to Wrex, while Tali wallows in grief at Shepard's death. Kaidan announces his intention to return to the Alliance, while Garrus announces his intent to become a spectre, form a team and continue Shepard's fight. Liara hopes to search the galaxy for evidence of possible prothean weapons to combat the Reapers, while Tali will return to the Migrant Fleet and prepare them for war. Adams is reassigned to the McKinley, while Chakwas is sent to a medical facility on Mars. The crew eventually part ways, and Tali goes to Dark Star, alone. There, she comes across Shepard's mother, and they have a long conversation before Hannah offers her a ride to the Migrant Fleet. Tali accepts. On the Migrant Fleet onboard the Rayya in the Wilbak Nebula, the entire Admiralty Board meets to discuss the end of the war. Rael, Gerrel, Xen, Raan and Koris. Rael, Gerrel and Xen see it as an opportunity to fuel their war effort against the geth, while Koris argues avidly against it, and Raan tries to guide the topic away from the geth entirely. While discussing resource distribution, the Orizaba arrives and requests to dock with the Neema, with Tali onboard. Surprised, they hesitantly accept the request. On the Orizaba, the dreadnought is approached by the Ulzabyk, and after some identification, they are allowed to dock with the Neema. Docking with the ship, Tali says goodbye to Hannah, promising to stay in touch. She then enters the airlock, boarding the ship. Elsewhere on Cronos Station, Miranda addresses the Illusive Man regarding Shepard's death. Miranda says that without Shepard the galaxy won't stand a chance when the Reapers arrive, to which their chief scientist, Albert Wilson, agrees. By the end, the Illusive Man proposes the recovery of Shepard's corpse for resurrection. Miranda expresses skepticism at the idea, but he remains adamant about it. Miranda agrees to make it happen, as does Wilson. Chapter Three: Welcome Home, Pilgrim Tali boards the Neema, where admirals Raan and Gerrel are present, along with Admiral Rael'Zorah, her father. Kal, a long-time friend and marine, is also present, as well as a younger quarian named Peta, who has long since had a romantic interest in her to the point of being obsessive. Also among the group is a nervous quarian named Veetor and Kal's best friend and second-in-command Madi'Soi. Tali presents her gift to Gerrel, which is the geth data she acquired during the Armstrong campaign. She is welcomed onboard and becomes Tali'Zorah vas Neema. After a talk with friends, she manages to get into a clean room and changes into her new suit, before retiring to her new quaters for a well-earned rest. Back on the Citadel, Garrus stormed into his apartment, having recently had his hopes of becoming a Spectre dashed by the Council. Suddenly, he spots a turian running from a group of Blood Pack mercs, and rushes to help. He kills the mercs, and the turian introduces himself as Lantar Sidonis. From Sidonis, he is rsalizes how crime-riddled the station of Omega is: the unofficial capital of the Terminus Systems, but a haven for crime and those who perform it. Garrus decides to form a squad to put an end to crime on Omega, and recruits Sidonis as his second-in-command. On Lazarus Station, Wilson provides an update to the Illusive Man, saying he has reached out to Joker and Doctor Chakwas offering them a job in Cerberus. The Illusive Man picks out the crew members he wants for Project Phoenix, and states he wants a shackled AI incorporated into the new ship's design, naming it the Enhanced Defense Intelligence. Wilson initially objects but gives into the Illusive Man's wishes. On Tuchanka, Wrex listens to the rambles of Chieftain Gatatog Uvenk, a Traditionalist and one of his opponents in his attempt to unite Tuchanka. After Uvenk is finished, Wrex summarily dismisses him, refusing to give into his demands. Uvenk growls, stating that his clan, and all those loyal to the Traditionalist ideology, will continue to oppose Wrex's reformists, and storms out. Wrex is soon informed of Tali trying to contact him, and injures Wreav, his blood brother and adjutant, when he insults her. Reading the message, Wrex learns of Shepard's death, mourning for his battle brother. Chapter Four: Lazarus Three months later, Kaidan has been assigned to Horizon to help coordinate the deployment of ground-based GARDIAN AA guns. Following the destruction of the Normandy, an unknown faction has been abducting entire human colonies without a trace, and the Alliance, although unwilling to jump to conclusions, believe Cerberus is behind the attacks. To combat the threat, Kaidan has become one of a few specialized commandos sent out to help facilitate better protection on the Alliance's outer colonies, hoping to prevent more abductions, with Kaidan being posted to Horizon for a three year tour, commanding a small company of marines, as well as the newly established Horizon Colonial Guard. President Lilith Abraham, leader of Colony Grandeur, is one of the few to befriend Kaidan, while the rest of the colony hates and despises him and the Alliance. A riot breaks out and Lilith manages to contain it, but Kaidan realizes its going to be a long tour. On Omega, Garrus, now known by his nickname Archangel, leads his new squad in preparation for an ambush of a Blood Pack unit protecting a weapons shipment during his new war against crime. His men, including his second-in-command Sidonis, his tech expert Fal Erash, his EOD specialist Sensat Aben, his secondary sharpshooter Melenis Gaition, his machinist Makk'Var nar Terez, his CQB specialist Caity Monteague, his secondary EOD Grundan Krul, his secondary technician Lerkaw Mierin, his third-in-command Ripper, and his three reserves: Kay Vortash, Butler and Weaver, launch their attack, quickly slaughtering the Blood Pack mercs, and leaving Garrus to battle Omega's Blood Pack leader, Weyrloc Garm, by himself. They battle for a while, but Blood Pack reinforcements arrive, allowing Garm to escape. Garrus deems the attack a success, while Garm vows to get vengeance on Archangel's squad. On Lazarus Station, Miranda and Jacob run a tour of the station. Miranda is the project head at Lazarus, while Jacob is head of security. Jacob wishes to see the equipment being used to rebuild Shepard, but Miranda does not allow him, deeming it for her eyes only. Jacob leaves and Miranda requests an update from Wilson, while revealing that Chakwas and Joker have agreed to join Cerberus, but Adams has refused. With the systems in place, they are ready to begin their project: now they just need Shepard's actual body. On the Migrant Fleet, Tali has become a marine, commanding a small platoon led by Platoon Sergeant Prazza'Sal. Returning to the Flotilla after a failed exploratory mission on Pheiros, Tali is contacts Garrus constantly via omni-tool, and she asks how his mission on Omega is going. Garrus is reluctant to delve into the details, so Tali tells him to stay safe. Garrus' response is less than forthcoming. Chapter Five: Light Years Away Another month and a half later and it is now 2184 CE: close to five months since Shepard's death. On Illium, Liara finds herself in a small bar enjoying a drink. It is revealed that five months of searching through existing prothean ruins has turned up nothing on the Reapers, leaving her empty-handed and unable to fullfill her promise. She watches numerous news reels: one on a justicar named Samara, another on a thief named Kasumi Goto and finally on the assassination of Jax, a krogan arms dealer, at the hands of a drell assassin. She is joined by a drell, who introduces himself as Feron Huul, who Liara finds suspicious. This is confirmed when a group of black and orange clad mercs enter the bar and question the matriarch who owns it, with Feron saying they are after him. He tries to escape, jumping through a window, which the mercs notice. Liara runs to her skycar and orders Feron to get in. The two of them escape, and while on their way to her apartment, she asks him to identify himself. He reveals the mercs were agents of the Shadow Broker, who wanted Feron dead for turning traitor: the Shadow Broker had acquired Shepard's body and wanted to sell it to an enigmatic race known as the Collectors, and Feron had wiped out the team searching for it, and had immediately sought out Liara to tell her. Knowing this, Feron decides to work with Liara to recover Shepard's body before the Broker does. And with that, she decides to visit the Migrant Fleet. Back on Omega, Garrus, with his teammates Makk and Caity, move through the Gozo District, investigating a possible Blue Suns attack on a local clinic in the district. While they eliminate the rear guard, they soon learn that the doctor in charge of the clinic, Professor Mordin Solus, had already killed the rest of the mercs. He thanks them for their assistance, and recognizes Garrus from their meeting on Virmire. Happy that the clinic was safe, Garrus and his men retreat back to their HQ. Back on the Migrant Fleet onboard the Neema, Tali has been promoted to Second Lieutenant. While lying in her bunk, she gets a message from Liara, requesting refuge for Feron while she becomes an information broker. Tali is angry at Liara for not staying in contact and only breaking that to ask for a favor, and respectfully declines before opening an extranet bookmark on human-quarian sexual intercourse, silently wishing for Shepard to have survived. Chapter Six: Warrior Line Just over three months have passed since the last chapter. On Tuchanka, Wrex is using his claymore shotgun to kill pyjaks as target practice. He had recently put down an attempted coup by Clan Joyrloc, who had been Traditionalists pretending to be reformists. Wrex was sure Wreav was working with them, as Wreav had always been more in line with the Traditionalist ideals. A few klixen appear, and Wrex disposes of them as well. Suddenly, Wreav contacts Wrex, telling him that someone has come to visit him. Reluctant to leave, Wrex returns to camp, only to find it is Tali. She explains that the fleet was mining the planet Sazgoth for palladium in the Dranek system, and she decided to pay a visit to the krogan she considered an uncle of sorts. After a short conversation, and a wrestling match between Wrex and Kal, Tali decides she must leave. Wreav intervenes, saying he believes the quarians have been in their camp too long and must leave. Wrex objects, but Wreav continues to complain until Tali challenges him to one-on-one combat. Kal objects, but she has none of it and, after a brief battle, Tali defeats Wreav. She then leaves, with Wrex chuckling the entire way at the humiliated Wreav. Two days later on the Migrant Fleet, Tali is now a Major. Herself, Kal and Prazza attend a meeting with Admiral Gerrel. Gerrel announces that the Migrant Fleet, specifically the Idenna, is being used as a temporary refuge for four humans: two human males, a female and a child, all of who were offered asylum by a quarian pilgrim. The captain of the Idenna, Ysin'Mal, requires assistance to help protect them: Tali's unit has been chosen for that task. Prazza, who's homeship is the Idenna, is suspicious of the humans, but agrees to help. She runs into Peta, and after his incessant questioning, yells at him to back off before storming out. Later, onboard the Idenna, Tali and Prazza meet with the ship's captain and learn of the details pertaining to the plight of the humans: they are being chased by Cerberus because of the child, Gillian, who is a powerful biotic that Cerberus wishes to "recruit". Among the Idenna's security contingent is Corporal Seeto'Hodda, Staff Sergeant Isa'Pal and Prazza's younger sister and soon-to-be pilgrim, Yalu'Sal. Tali compliments Prazza's sister, in which he gets temporarily defensive before apologizing. Isa explains that the Cyniad, a scout shuttle, was sent out to investigate a possible beacon on Shelba; the just sent a request to dock. It is allowed, and the crew are taken by surprise when a quarian criminal and exile, Golo'Mekk, raids the ship with a platoon of Cerberus commandos. Without mercy, Tali helped the crew of the ship fight back Cerberus, with Prazza in tow. She stops Prazza when she sees Yalu being carried away by two commandos. She tries to save Yalu, but when she realizes that a marine is about to fire his rocket launcher, she grabs Prazza and drops to the ground, the blast killing Yalu and her captors. Prazza is driven into a frenzy after this, killing the rest of the commandos. Kahlee kills Golo, comforting Gillian. Prazza's hate for Tali is born, and Tali surveys the destruction left by Cerberus with solemnity. Chapter Seven: Alot Has Changed Well over a year later, it is now 2185 CE: two years have passed since Shepard's death. On Lazarus Station, Shepard has been successfully resurrected, and he wakes up prematurely; he is not yet ready for awakening. Shepard manages to escape confinement, but is soon cornered by a group of Cerberus commandos, led by Miranda and Jacob. Shepard is furious to learn he is in the hands of Cerberus, and he uses his biotics to attack Miranda. He succeeds in throwing her back, but using his biotics cause him unbelievable pain. Jacob tries to tell him he died and was resurrected, and that two years have passed since he died. Shocked, he is left surprised when a tranquilizer dart is shot into his neck, knocking him unconscious. On Cronos Station, the Illusive Man is informed by Miranda of Shepard's awakening. Miranda also expresses concern about Wilson, and the Illusive Man mutually agrees that he finds the man suspicious. He orders her to keep an eye on Wilson, and to make sure the resurrection of Shepard is completed soon. Miranda nods and disconnects, leaving the Illusive Man to ponder. Two days later on Omega, Garrus is scoping out a possible Blood Pack smuggling operation in the mining sector. Sidonis woke him up, having been beaten half to death by Garm and his men, where he learnt of the operation. Garrus goes alone, not wanting to attract attention. Not finding any evidence of a smuggling ring, he contacts Sidonis to see what's going on. He realizes that Sidonis was beaten up and interrogated, where Sidonis gave up the location of their headquarters in the Kima district. Sidonis flees, but Garrus swears vengeance on the turian, calling him a coward and promising to find him and kill him. He rushes back to his base, but is too late: most of his squad has been murdered, with Makk as the only survivor. He tries to save the quarian, but he soon passes away. With the Eclipse, Blood Pack and Blue Suns having teamed up on him, he grabs his sniper rifle and ambushes their team, killing them all. He then contacts Garm, Tarak and Jaroth, informing them that he has every intention to kill them before he dies. On August 2 on the Migrant Fleet, Tali and Prazza's platoon are summoned to another meeting with Gerrel. Prazza still hasn't forgiven Tali for his sister's death, and objects when Gerrel assigns her as their commander: Gerrel overrides his complaints. They are informed of their mission: a quarian pilgrim, revealed to be Veetor, went to Freedom's Progress, and was apparently present when the colony was recently abducted. Veetor is not human and is hoped he survived the attack, and Tali and her platoon will extract him. Tali tells Prazza to follow orders, and the platoon sergeant reluctantly agrees, much to his own acrimony. Chapter Eight: Back and Better On Lazarus Station, Shepard once again awakens, this time fully resurrected. He wakes up naked and finding him in the middle of an attack on the station. The station's security mechs have gone rogue and started killing all personnel on the station, and Miranda hastily rushes Shepard into some armor. He manages to shoot his way through most of the mechs, Miranda guiding him through the station until he meets up with Jacob. With Jacob's help, they manage to save Wilson, but with no sign of Miranda, they are forced to make their way to a shuttle to try an escape. Miranda reveals that she is indeed alive, raising her weapon and killing Wilson. She reveals that she had suspected Wilson, and that he had been hired by an outside source to betray Cerberus and to kill Shepard and retrieve his body. Shepard is hesitant to go with them but eventually agrees, wishing to meet the Illusive Man. The shuttle leaves, heading for Minuteman Station. Chapter Nine: Run In With Fate The next day, their shuttle arrives on Minuteman Station. Kelly Chambers, Project Phoenix's yeoman and unofficial psychologist, greets him, but he shoves past her, still bitter about Cerberus. He finally meets the Illusive Man, but is disappointed to not be meeting him face to face: they talk using a QEC. Shepard is hostile to him, but is interested when the Cerberus leader mentions a mutual interest in stopping the Reaper threat. He explains that human colonies have been disappearing ever since Shepard's death, and that the unique nature of them hints at a connection to the Reapers. Shepard reluctantly agrees to go with Jacob and Miranda to Freedom's Progress to investigate a recent abduction before the Alliance's first responders get there, hoping to find a clue as to who is behind the attacks. A day later, Tali, Prazza and the platoon arrive on Freedom's Progress, minding it eerily empty after the abduction. No signs of battle are present, leaving them confused. The few security mechs of the colony, a few LOKI and FENRIS mechs, were all the resistance they expected, and Tali quickly leads them through the colony in search of Veetor. Nine minutes later, Shepard, along with Miranda and Jacob, arrive on the other side of the colony. They find the colony to have the same aspects as the other abducted colonies: everyone is gone, no signs of battle and everything looks as if people simply disappeared with no explanation. They find the security mechs to have been reprogrammed to attack everything on sight, and they are forced to take them out. They soon find evidence of another group that is present, and within a few minutes, they run into Tali and her platoon. Shepard is just as surprised as the others to find quarians on the colony, but is soon left shocked when he realizes the leader is the woman he loved. Tali is initally in denial, refusing to believe it is him. However, after some convincing, he manages to persuade her that it is really him. She tells him of her mission and he tells her of his, and they agree that they can help each other. Prazza is reluctant to help them because of their ties to Cerberus, but begrudgingly agrees to work with them; they both elect to help find Veetor, as Veetor could tell them who attacked the colony. Splitting up to cover all bases, they fight through waves of mechs to their objective. Unfortunately, Prazza and his platoon end up disobeying Tali's orders in favor of getting to Veetor, and end up fighting a large YMIR mech. In the ensuing battle, the platoon is slaughtered, with Prazza among those dead: Tali is the only survivor. They find Veetor however, who reveals that he took surveillance footage of the attackers. To their surprise, they find the enigmatic Collectors to be behind the attacks. Jacob and Miranda are shocked by this, as the Collectors usually arrange others to give them specimens, and only in small groups: no more than 10 at a time. Shepard tries to convince Tali to join him in his new mission, but Tali says she still has a duy to her people and must get Veetor home. Shepard sides with Tali when Miranda tries to have Veetor taken back to Cerberus for interrogation, and she takes him home. Tali says she has one more important mission deep in geth space, and then she can join him. With that settled, they part ways, with Shepard going with Miranda and Jacob back to Minuteman Station, and Tali and Veetor back to the Migrant Fleet. Chapter Ten: Nostalgic Moments The shuttle arrives back at Minuteman Station two days later, and Shepard updates the Illusive Man on the success of his mission, and reveals that the Collectors were behind the attacks, and likely also the destruction of the Normandy. The Illusive Man is not surprised by this however, saying he had his suspicions, he just needed them to be confirmed. Shepard agrees to a mutual alliance with Cerberus against the new threat, but after learning that most of his team has moved on, he agrees to forming a new one. Afterwards, Joker walks in, shocking Shepard. Shepard and Joker talk while the pilot takes him to the hangar, showing him Project Phoenix: a larger, more advanced version of the original Normandy. Codenamed Phoenix, Shepard and Joker jointly decide to name it in honor of its predecessor, christening it the ''Normandy'' SR-2. Moving onboard for the tour, he runs into Kelly again, apologizing for his previous behaviour. EDI, the ship's AI, announces itself, much to Shepard and Joker's chagrin. Jacob and Miranda continue to show him around the ship, where he meets the new crew members as well: he meets the ship's cook and custodian Mess Sergeant Gardner, engineers Ken and Gabby and other members of the crew. Shepard asks where the chief engineer is, but Miranda states there isn't one, as Adams rejected their offer to join Cerberus. After seeing the ship in all its glory, he orders them to leave port, ready to start his new mission. Chapter Eleven: I Am Omega! Several days later, the Normandy ''arrives at Omega, Shepard looking for the first recruits for his new squad. Upon arrival, the trio is greeted by a slimy salarian named Fargut, who is waved off by one of Aria T'Loak's lackeys, a batarian named Moklan. He demands they see Aria, as she is curious to know why a war hero was brought to a cesspool of criminal activity like Omega. Shepard reluctantly agrees, and they follow Moklan and his men into Afterlife. Making their way through the club, Shepard puts down a group of batarian thugs before they are brought face to face with Aria T'Loak herself: self-proclaimed Queen of Omega and of the Terminus Systems. After a quick search to make sure of his identity, Aria allows him to sit. He asks for the location of his first two recruits: Mordin Solus and the mercenary known as Archangel. She directs him to the Kima district where Archangel is making his last stand, and the Gozu district, where Mordin is trying to cure a recent outbreak of the plague. Afterwards, Shepard chooses to try and save Archangel first, and heads for the nearest Blue Suns recruiter with a plan. On the Migrant Fleet, Tali has been promoted to Colonel and ponders. She is happy to know Shepard is still alive, and is determined to join his side again once her coming mission is complete. Kal is shown to be aware of Shepard's survival, and the two of them talk about it. Kal promises he hasn't told her father about her relationship with Shepard, and that Veetor is recovering well with the Neema's doctor. Tali also expresses concern that Peta hasn't been harassing her as much, and that he may be planning something. Elsewhere on the ''Neema, Veetor is being treated by the ship's doctor, who is quite rude and disrespectful towards the young quarian. The Rayya's doctor appears, her name being Elan'Shiya, who has agreed to take Veetor back to the Rayya; his pilgrimage was cancelled, making him a crew of the Rayya, and therefore Captain Kar'Danna's responsibility. Kaso objects, but Elan is set on this decision, and so he angrily leaves. Veetor takes a liking to Elan, who promises him a safe return to his home, and his parents. Chapter Twelve: Conflict Arising